


U is for Underestimated

by Jazzie



Series: A to Z of Danny Whump! [21]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 23:35:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11931696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jazzie/pseuds/Jazzie
Summary: The bad guys know 5-0 are a force to be reckoned with but have they underestimated Danny one time too many or will a trek through the rainforest prove to be a step too far for the native New Jersey man.





	1. Chapter 1

Danny had just dropped Grace off at her Mom’s house and was heading back home, not to his home though, oh no.  His boss, best friend and surrogate brother, all rolled into one, was still insisting he stay with him.  Steve McGarrett would not back down on this no matter how much Danny argued.  Oh, he’d tried to go back to his apartment, but the next day at work Steve had somehow managed to steal his keys and was refusing to give them back.

There was no animosity in Steve’s actions, only a fear of losing his brother.  Danny just couldn’t seem to find a way to reassure Steve and until he could come up with a way he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.  McGarrett was the immovable rock in this scenario.  Of course Danny being trampled while out on an excursion with his daughter and her classmates just a couple of weeks ago hadn’t helped the detective’s case one bit.  His still at times painful ribs would twinge at the most inconvenient moments, always when Steve was there to witness his momentary discomfort.

The only reason Danny had been ‘allowed’ to drive Grace home that night was because Steve had been called out, along with the other two members of the task force.  Danny was still on restricted duties so there was nothing he could contribute at this early stage.  Once evidence had been gathered and statements taken, then Danny would be helping out, from his desk only, no field duty, at least not for another two weeks, possibly up to four depending on how well his ribs healed.

Sighing, Danny turned his car towards Steve’s, deciding to take the long way round so that he could just get some time away from the house.  All he seemed to do at the moment was go from Steve’s, to the office and back again.  He totally got why Steve was behaving the way he was, if the roles were reversed Danny would be the same.  Navy SEAL or not, he would still want the other man to be within his sight as much as possible.  He just hoped that this wouldn’t have a detrimental effect on their ‘relationship’ as it stood.  Living together for so long could be problematic, especially when both had different routines and habits that totally clashed at times.

The detective was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the vehicle coming up behind him on the quiet road, something he would kick himself for later.  The driver of the other vehicle made his presence known when he pulled up alongside the Camaro, before Danny could even react, the truck slammed into the side of his car, causing him to fight with the steering and end up stopped on the dirt at the side of the road.

“What the hell?!” Danny exclaimed as the truck, very similar to Steve’s stopped in front.  Due to the threat that Warner currently posed he didn’t go anywhere without his sidearm now, so he reached for it, as he watched a couple of men wearing masks and sporting semi-automatic weapons climbed out and ran towards him.

They hadn’t been going very fast, so there was little other damage done to the Camaro than that caused by the side impact, it did however prevent Danny from getting his door open in order to properly confront his attackers.  Climbing across the center console he made to open the passenger side door, so that he could use that as cover while reaching for his cell to call for assistance.

As he opened the passenger door he heard the sound of guns being prepared to fire and made himself as small as possible as a volley of bullets struck his beloved car, his hands went over his head in a vain attempt to protect himself.

“Detective Williams,” a deep male voice called out in the quiet, once the shooting stopped.  There was no other sound; the local wildlife had descended into silence at the loud noise in the deserted area where Danny now found himself.  Of all the stupid ideas to take a back way, with no possible chance of assistance, he berated himself.  No houses, not even a warehouse for miles as far as he could tell in the diminishing light.  Steve was going to kill him, then Kono would bring him back to kill him again and no doubt Chin would take his turn too, “Detective Williams,” the voice called again.

Danny needed to buy some time, he picked up his cell and pressed speed dial #2 before answering, “What?” in a less than friendly tone.

“I am sure you’re trying to call the rest of your team for help, if you check your cell you’ll see you have no signal, we’re jamming it.”

Looking at his cell Danny saw that the man was right, _‘Well that’s not good!’_ “What do you want?”

“Throw your gun and cell out of the car then step out with your hands up.”

“So you can shoot me?  I don’t think that sounds like a very good plan,” Danny called back.

“We’re not going to shoot you Detective Williams; in fact we have no intention of harming even a single hair on your head.”

“I’m just supposed to believe that, am I?” Danny was casting around in his mind for something that would help get him out of this.  He had his Sig but that wasn’t going to do much against at least two men armed with semi-automatics, “You crashed into my car and then shot it up!  How is that supposed to convince me that you don’t want to hurt me?”

“I apologise for the shooting Detective, my two colleagues were a little over eager,” there was a tone of rebuke in the man’s voice, clearly not directed at Danny.

Danny was thrown, a criminal was apologising to him?  This whole situation was more than a little odd, “Did Shane Warner send you?”

“I don’t know anyone by that name Detective.”

He wondered how long he would need to keep this little chat up before someone drove down this road.  Admittedly it was a pretty deserted area but someone must drive along this road now and then, right?

“Oh and Detective, if you’re thinking that help might come along in the form of a passer-by, then I should probably tell you that we’ve closed off both ends of the road for, er, repairs!”

 _‘What is this guy, a mind reader?’_ “What do you want with me?” asked Danny.

“We need you to be a distraction for us,” the deep voice replied.

“A distraction?  What kind of distraction?” he didn’t like the sound of that at all.

“Look Detective Williams, I’m not going to tell you anymore, so do as I asked or I’ll let my two colleagues turn your Camaro into Swiss cheese!”

“What happened to not hurting a hair on my head?!”

“If you won’t co-operate then I’ll just have to go to plan B.  I’m sure you can still be a distraction even as a corpse!”

There was no choice, he had to do as requested.  At least, this way, it might give his team time to find him, alive.  If he tries to fight his way out then all they’ll find is a dead body.

“Fine!” he growls and throws both his cell and gun onto the dirt next to the Camaro, then clambers, none to gracefully, out of the door with his hands raised.  He is immediately grabbed by one of the two armed men.

“Detective Williams, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” the deep voiced man is now standing in front of him.

“Well given I don’t know who you are and under the circumstances we’re meeting, I can’t say the same!”

“Understandable.  You are a means to an end Detective, I promise you that I have no desire to hurt you unless you give me or my men reason.”

“Comforting,” Danny rolls his eyes.

“Yes, well…” The man nods to another standing off in the shadows and he approaches Danny, a cloth in one hand.

“Oh hell no!” He knows exactly what’s coming and fights against the man pinning his arms behind him.  In seconds he finds himself flat on his back being held down by two men, while a third places the cloth across his nose and mouth.  The pain being generated from his four healing ribs causes him to gasp, taking in a good dose of what’s on the cloth despite his best intentions.

“Don’t worry Detective, we’ll be gone when you wake up,” the deep voice tells him before everything fades to black.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Danny wakes up to the sound of a car coming to a stop.  His instincts tell him that whatever is going on he needs to pretend he is still unconscious from the chloroform.  When hands grab him he purposely makes his body limp and doesn’t fight them.  Even when he hears the tell-tale sound of helicopter blades starting to rotate through the air and feels the downdraft, he keeps up his act.  This means he gets to hear what the plans are as the men, who are clearly lackeys, discuss things they probably shouldn’t.

“Why the hell didn’t we just kill him?” grouches one man.

“He explained why,” responds another.

“Doesn’t want to kill a member of 5-0 and bring down the wrath of the mighty McGarrett, I know, I heard…”

_‘Well that kind of explains why I’m still breathing, thank god Steve isn’t here to hear them call him mighty McGarrett, his ego is big enough already!’_

“… but don’t you think that kidnapping a member of 5-0 will _still_ have the same effect?” continues the man.

“Look, he’ll be so distracted looking for his man and thinking that Warner is responsible that he won’t spare anyone else more than a fleeting thought.”

_‘Huh, OK, so not Warner.  Then who?’_

“We should cut our losses and head back to the mainland.”

“No. 5-0 cost us a deal that was potentially worth millions when they arrested the other crew for that diamond heist.  This has been in planning for months now, ever since the press announcement, we need to draw 5-0 away from interviewing the other crew, just in case one of ‘em slips up.”

“The other crew already tried the distraction thing and it _didn’t_ work!”

“They chose a public event with kids!  That was stupid.  We’re using one man.”

“Why this one though?”

“Well McGarrett’s a Navy SEAL, Kelly and Kalakaua are both native Hawaiians so the plan wouldn’t have worked.  This guy is a city boy!”

“I see.  Dump him in the jungle somewhere nice and remote, he won’t be able to find his way out for days…”

_‘Shit!’_

“That’s right, when we’re free and clear after the heist on Tuesday night the boss will send 5-0 the co-ordinates where we’re gonna drop this guy; then they can do a search for him.”

_‘Steve will tear this island apart once he realises I’m missing!  What are these bozos up to that warrants kidnapping a member of the Governor’s task force?’_

“The Hawaiian Crown Jewels…”

“Enough talking you two, take him and load him into the helicopter!”

Danny continued to make sure his body remained limp, even as he was unceremoniously dumped on what he figured must be the floor of the previously mentioned helicopter given the vibrations he could feel.  A few minutes later his assumption was confirmed as he felt the movement of the chopper lifting off the ground.

 _‘They’re going to steal the Crown Jewels?  Seriously?  Have I found myself in the middle of a movie script here?’_ Danny knew that he was going to be dumped in the middle of nowhere… from a helicopter.  The question was were they going to land or just throw him out and hope for the best?

Minutes later Danny felt a rope being tied around his waist and figured now was his chance to try to bring these guys down.  They hadn’t tied him up, obviously thinking that he was still unconscious, so he allowed his eyes to open enough to take in his surroundings.  The same two men that had been armed were on board; there was no sign of the man with the deep voice, the only other person was the pilot.

Taking a deep breath Danny launched himself at the man nearest to him and a scuffle ensued.  The space was restrictive and didn’t really allow the detective the space he needed in order to take down both men.  As a result Danny received several hard blows to his torso knocking the breath out of him.

“We’re over the clearing,” the pilot spoke through his headset to the two men struggling with their prisoner in the back.

One of them opened the door while the other subdued Danny in a head lock, leaving him no room to manoeuvre.  The man holding him shuffled forward bringing them closer to the door.  Naturally this wasn’t something that Danny wanted and he kept trying to brace his feet to prevent the forward motion.  He was rewarded with a foot to his lower leg, the pain stopped him from further struggling adequately against what he knew was coming… The bastards were going to drop him out the helicopter, which was now hovering.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

“That was a complete waste of time,” grumbled Kono as she followed her boss and cousin back into the 5-0 offices at the Palace.

“Crank calls are the worst,” agreed Chin, slumping down in one of the chairs.

“Man, the look on the faces of that family when we burst into their house!” Steve ran a tired hand through his hair as he joined his friends in the main room.  He’d have a _lot_ of explaining to do when he spoke to the Governor tomorrow.

“Well we had to go by what we’d been told Steve.  HPD get a tip saying that Warner is back on the island and hiding out in that house, we had to check it out.”

“I let my personal feelings get in the way of doing it right though Chin!” the SEAL was clearly angry at himself, “We should have taken the time to verify the information.  Instead we burst into an innocent family’s home, waving weapons around!  The kids were younger than Grace!”

“Yeah, Danny’s not gonna be too thrilled when he hears about this,” Kono shuddered at the thought of the rant they were going to be on the receiving end of.

Chin dropped his head in his hands knowing that this time even he wouldn’t be immune, since he’d gone along with Steve’s plan to just raid the house without checking the intel.  They all wanted so badly to get their hands on Warner once and for all.

“Shit!” Steve swore and reached for his cell.

“Steve?”

“Boss?”

Steve held up a finger, quieting the present members of his team, while he called the other but there was no answer, “Danny’s not answering his cell…”

“It’s late, he’s probably asleep,” Chin looked at his watch and groaned as he saw it was nearing midnight.

“He’d still answer his phone, he wouldn’t be happy about it…”

Chin lifted his head up and realised what Steve wasn’t saying, “You think that this could have been a distraction to allow Warner to get to Danny?”

The three team mates were moving out of the office before the sentence was even complete.

Steve jumped into his truck, flicked on the lights and sirens and took off towards his house with Chin closely following in his SUV.  When they reached the house Danny’s Camaro wasn’t there, the front door was locked.  Steve indicated that Chin and Kono should go round the back while he entered in the front.

Opening the door Steve found that the alarm was set, disabling it he then moved through the house clearing rooms.  Chin and Kono entering behind him after discovering the door at the back was secure.

“Clear!”

“Clear!”

“Clear!”

“Damn, where the hell is he?” Steve pulled out his cell and called the one person that he really didn’t want to.

 _“Rachel Edwards,”_ she had clearly been asleep.

“Rachel, its Steve McGarrett….”

“Commander, have you any idea what time it is?” Rachel demanded in her clipped British voice.

“I know and I’m sorry to call so late, but it’s important.”

There was a sigh of defeat from the other end of the phone, Rachel had no doubt that if she hung up on the Commander he’d be knocking at her door and waking the whole house, _“What is it?”_

“Did Danny drop Grace off?”

 _“Yes,”_ her tone was now turning to one of concern.

“What time?”

_“Just after eight.  What’s going on Steve?”_

“I’m not sure yet Rachel,” he answered honestly, “I’m going to send a unit over to keep an eye on your place, I want you to call me if you hear from Danny.”

“A unit?  Is that really necessary?”

“Yes, it is.  I know Danny would want me to make sure that whatever is going on you and Gracie are safe.  Stay in the house, keep the doors locked.  Call me if anything happens in the meantime.”

“Very well… Steve?”

“Yes?”

“Call me when you know what’s happening, please?”

“I will,” he hung up, sighing with relief, as that had gone better than he expected.

“HPD are sending a unit over now.  I also put a BOLO out on Danny’s Camaro,” Chin informed Steve hanging up his own phone.

“I should have seen that this was a trick!  I was too damn eager to take it at face value.  I didn’t even tell Danny; at least he might have been ready for whatever happened.”

“We all were Steve.  You did what you thought was best at the time and we supported that decision.”

“The important thing now, is finding Danny!” stated Kono.  They could wallow in guilt later.

“There are only a two routes between here and Rachel’s,” Chin pointed out.

“Alright, we’ll take one route each and retrace his steps.  Kono stay here in case he comes back,” ordered Steve.

Kono was about to protest but was cut off by a small shake of her cousin’s head.  Steve needed to be out there doing something and they needed someone to stay put.  Her shoulders sagging slightly in defeat, she nodded as she watched the two men hurry out to their vehicles.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Danny found himself dangling out of the helicopter on a rope.  He was a bit hazy on just how he’d gone from being inside the chopper to dangling below it but he was sure it had something to do with the throbbing in his temple.  Taking a deep breath, which caused his ribs to protest, he looked around in the failing light.  Apart from the clearing below, all he could see were trees, lots and lots of trees, miles and miles of trees.

Looking up he saw the two men he’d been struggling with give a feral grin as they lowered him down towards the ground.  At least his worse fears of just being thrown out hadn’t come to pass, which had been a real possibility after he’d managed to punch one and kick the other in the face.

“We should let him drop from here!” remarked one of the men to the other.

“Boss would kill us if we did that, could kill him and that’s not part of the plan.”

The two men started to fight for control over the rope, one worried that the other was just going to drop their prisoner from a great height.  The pilot seeing the two struggling lowered the chopper down as far as he could without striking the tall trees surrounding the clearing, hoping to get the dangling man close enough to the ground.

“Stop that!  Lower him down until he’s on the ground!”

“I’m going to if you’ll just let me be!”

“Look you’re going to…”

“Oh…”

“…drop him.”

Leaning slightly out of the chopper the two men looked at the man lying on the ground.

“He’s not moving.”

“You just dropped him fifteen feet, of course he’s not moving!  Throw down the back pack and let’s get out of here.”

Shrugging the other man pulled his head back in and closed the door and the chopper took off leaving Danny alone.

For his part, Danny wasn’t unconscious, merely winded.  He was sure Super SEAL had deliberately ‘fallen’ out of choppers on numerous occasions, for him it was his first time and frankly, he had no intention of there being a second!

Taking a moment to put his heart back in his chest, Danny lay looking at the ever darkening sky and knew that, before too much longer, it would be completely dark.  Unless of course there was a full moon tonight, but he was sure he couldn’t be that lucky.  With this in mind he knew that he needed to get his ass off the ground and find some shelter for the night.

When he’d fallen, with help, from the chopper he had landed on his back with his right leg tucked underneath him, it wasn’t a comfortable position so he sat up, groaning at the renewed pain this caused from his ribs.  Henry would not be pleased but it seemed likely he’d managed to injure them again.  As Danny went to move his bent leg, he discovered that really was the least of his problems as pain shot through his knee.

_‘Great, could things get any worse?’_

Danny scrambled to his feet and went to see if he could put any weight on his right leg, immediately it became clear he couldn’t as he ended up back sitting on the ground clutching at it, eyes watering.

_‘I had to ask, didn’t I?’_

Using the last of the light, he rolled up his pants leg and found not only was his knee swelling but so was his ankle. 

_‘OK, take a minute Danny… I’m in the middle of a jungle… sorry, rainforest… I have no clue how far from civilisation, with what looks like a sprained ankle, bruised knee and cracked ribs… I’m screwed!’_

Looking around Danny’s eyes landed on the back pack.  He shuffled over to it on his ass, glad that nobody could see him at that moment.  Opening it he took stock of what he had been left.

_‘Flashlight, bottle of water, couple of energy bars, blanket… That’s not going to last long.’_

Danny made his way slowly over to a tree on the edge of the clearing and settled into the area created by the roots, pulling out the blanket, he decided what he needed was a couple of hours rest, then he could figure out how the hell he was going to get out of this mess.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Steve and Chin stood near Danny’s Camaro, staring at it in silence as a crew of CSU crawled over it, photographing and picking up relevant evidence to bag and tag.

Charlie Fong approached the two men, “Steve, Chin.”

“What have you got for us Charlie?” asked Steve.  He had received a call from Chin stating he’d found Danny’s car and that CSU were on their way.  The SEAL had arrived at the scene in a matter of minutes and his heart had sunk into his combat boots.

“Danny’s gun and cell were left at the side of the road, his wallet and badge on the passenger seat.  No rounds were fired from Danny’s weapon, but we have collected at least twenty casings that appear to be from a 9mm.”

“Can you tell what kind of gun?”

“Maybe when we get all the evidence back to the lab…”

“OK Charlie.  Thanks.  Get the car towed back to HPD and start processing, this is top priority!”

“I’ll call you as soon as I have any further information,” Charlie hurried off to oversee the collecting of the rest of the evidence and securing the Camaro for transport.

“We need to get Kono and head back to the Palace, see if we can figure out who’s behind this and where they’ve taken him,” Chin placed a hand on Steve’s arm to drag his attention away from the car that was now being covered in wrap to protect any evidence.

“We know whose behind it Chin…”

“Brah, we can’t assume anything right now.  We need to treat this like any other kidnapping and track down all leads.”

“I know, it’s just...”

“Let’s go…”

The two men turned away from the Camaro back to their own vehicles.  Steve was going to go by his place, pick up Kono and meet Chin back at HQ.

 

A quiet Kono joined the two men at the computer table at the Palace.  Chin had been busy trying to track down any one who had dealings with Shane Warner on Oahu and trying to find out if there was any way that he’d made it back on to the island without them knowing.

“Hey Cuz, what can I do to help?”

“You can run down these names and find out whether they’re still behind bars or not,” Chin provided her with a list of a dozen names, all came from cases where Danny had been instrumental in putting them in prison.

“I’m going to call the Governor and then I’ll give you a hand,” Steve had put off calling the man until he knew for sure Danny had been taken.  With the evidence before them of the shot up Camaro, he could no longer deny that he had.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Danny woke with a start at a sound off to his left.  It took a moment for him to realise that he wasn’t at home in his bed or Steve’s guestroom bed at least.  Then he remembered, forest, middle of nowhere, on his own.

Fumbling he found the flashlight and shone it in the direction the noise was coming from.  Whatever was making the noise clearly didn’t like the light, as the sound receded.  Danny slumped back and pressed his hands into his eyes to wipe away the dregs of sleep.  Wanting to conserve the battery on the flashlight, he turned it off but placed it safely back in the bag next to him.  Sighing he rested his head back wondering how long it would take for him to be found and if he would still be alive.  A picture of Grace popped into his mind unbidden and suddenly he was sitting more upright, time for a self-lecture.

_‘Alright Danno, pull yourself together!  They took you because you’re the least experienced in this environment, so figure you can’t get yourself out of the rainforest! You need to prove them wrong!  They said they’d let 5-0 know where you are in a couple of days.  Firstly, you likely don’t have enough provisions to last that long, secondly you know about a crime that’s going to be committed and you need to do something about it!  Rest now because at first light you are outta here pal!’_

Satisfied that he’d given himself enough of a pep talk for the time being, he got as comfortable as he could and settled down to get some more rest knowing that he was going to need all his energy the following day.

A warm feeling on his face woke him several hours later.  Opening his eyes he quickly snapped them shut again as he was blinded by a bright light.  Shielding his eyes with his arm he opened them again to see the clearing he was in bathed in bright morning sunshine.  The sun had cleared the trees and was warming his chilled body.  Stretching Danny groaned as his ribs reminded him that they were hurting.

_‘Right Williams, drink, eat some of one of those energy bars and then decide how you’re going to find your way outta this hell-hole of a rainforest!’_

Putting actions to words he opened the bottle of water and took just a couple of sips, unless he could find more water he’d need to make this last.  Opening one of the two energy bars he again only had a couple of bites before rewrapping it and placing it back in the bag.  He then folded the blanket and returned that to the bag before zipping it up securely.  A cursory examination of his ankle and knee showed that although the swelling had gone down slightly, it was likely walking was going to be slow and painful.

Taking as deep a breath as his damaged ribs would allow, he pushed against the tree and leaned into it for support, putting all his weight only on his left leg.  Once up he gingerly tested putting weight on his right and found that was a bad idea as the pain nearly sent him back to the ground.  He looked around for an answer, he needed to be able to walk but it was clear he’d be unable to without assistance.  After carefully searching the ground he finally spotted a sturdy looking fallen branch not too far from where he was currently standing.  Slowly he lowered himself to the ground and bum shuffled his way to it.  There were quite a few smaller branches sticking out from it that he really needed to get rid of but there had been no knife provided….

Danny patted the pockets of his pants and sighed with relief when he found he still had the Swiss army knife that Steve had given him as a gift.  It was of course the best that he could find, so had a good quality, sharp knife which he now used to remove the smaller branches, until he was left with a long thick branch that was maybe a little shorter than he’d have liked but would be sufficient for him to lean on.  Putting his theory to the test he bum shuffled his way back to the tree so he would have something to prop himself up on as he got to his feet and hold on to if his attempt to create a walking stick failed.

Tentatively, Danny rested his right hand on the top of the stick, grateful that his previously broken fingers had healed enough to enable them to bend, and took a step putting most of his weight on the stick as he brought his injured leg forward.  After he’d managed a few steps, he breathed a sigh of relief, it wasn’t fast and it wasn’t pretty, but it was working!  Turning back towards the tree he picked up the back pack and placed it over his shoulders then made his way into the middle of the clearing.  He was hoping to get an indication of which direction he should go.  Even Super SEAL would struggle to know for sure, not knowing where he was or having a map of the area, though Danny was sure he’d have some trick up his sleeve.  Reaching the middle he looked around, mostly all he could see was trees however, he noticed that they seemed to start to slope away on one side, which would imply that way was downhill whereas in the opposite direction they sloped up.  Then of course either side they stayed level.

Should he go up, down or stay on the level?  Damn what a decision.  There was no apparent trail out of the clearing.  He ruled out going up quite quickly, although he might get a better view of where he was he figured it would be too much of a struggle with his injured leg, so left, right or down?

Danny walked the edge of the clearing until he could discern a path that he figured would be relatively easy given his current condition, whether it was the right one or not remained to be seen but it was sure as hell better than sitting waiting for something that might never happen!  The clearest route that he could see led down, so that’s the way he went.

It was a long, slow process because he didn’t want to rush and stumble.  Slow and steady was the way he was going to win _this_ race.  He’d show those scumbags that he was capable of traversing the rainforest.  He’d prove to Steve, Chin and Kono that he may not be a native Hawaiian or grown up here or a SEAL but he was still damn capable of looking after himself in a difficult situation.


	2. Chapter 2

“No Sir, no news yet.  I will Governor,” Steve hung up the phone on his desk and rested his head in his hands, Chin and Kono looked at him feeling exactly the same way.  The three of them had been up all night tracking down criminals that Danny had put away, both with HPD and 5-0.  Every single one was accounted for.  Shane Warner was still off the grid, so there was no way of telling if he was behind Danny’s disappearance or not.

There was no forensic evidence to help them.  There were a total of twenty two casings that had been picked up off the ground in front of the Camaro and a corresponding twenty two 9mm bullets from the front of the body of the car.  None of which had any blood on at least.  Charlie had sprayed the inside with luminol and it had come back clear so at least it didn’t appear that Danny had been killed or injured at the scene. 

Charlie believed that the weapon the bullets had come from was likely a Colt 2000 or something of a similar size.  The bullets were being run through IBIS to see if the weapons had been used in any other cases.

“You should both go and get some rest,” Steve lifted his head and looked at his two remaining subordinates.

“If we should, then so should you,” pointed out Chin gently.

“I can’t rest when I don’t know where Danny is.”

“What makes you think we can?” Kono asked quietly.

“It’s been nearly fifteen hours since he dropped Grace off at Rachel’s.  Nobody has seen him since.  He could be anywhere!” the frustration and anger could be clearly heard in Steve’s voice.  The face he was currently sporting wasn’t one that Danny had seen in order to be able to name it.  Chin and Kono hoped that none of them would ever have to see this particular face again.

“OK, why don’t we all grab a couple of hours in our offices?  We’re no good to Danny if we’re dead on our feet,” Chin suggested reasonably, “Perhaps Charlie will come up with something on the bullets while we get some rest.  Right now there is nothing for us to do but wait.”

“You’re right.  Wherever Danny is we need to be ready to go and bring him back,” Steve nodded.  He didn’t want to nap and was used to being up for hours with little sleep but Chin and Kono weren’t.  Steve had people other than Danny to think about and he wouldn’t want him to forget that.

“I don’t need to sleep!” insisted Kono.

“Come on Cuz,” Chin pulled her out of her chair and practically dragged her into her office and pushed her down onto the couch, “A couple of hours rest and perhaps we’ll see something we missed.”

“A couple of hours…”

“Yeah.”

“OK,” she sighed in defeat and rested her head on the arm.  It didn’t take long for her breathing to even out as she fell asleep.

“One down, one to go,” mumbled Chin; only too well aware that the SEAL was going to do everything he could to avoid resting.  Entering Steve’s office he stood in the doorway arms crossed.

“What?”

“You’re not planning on sleeping are you?”

Steve thought about lying but knew Chin would see right through him, “Nope.”

“Brah, exhausting yourself will not help Danny!  I know you used to go a long time without sleep with the SEALs but this isn’t the SEALs and we need you to be well rested.  The danger of missing the smallest detail that could help find Danny if we don’t rest is too great.”

“He wouldn’t rest if it was one of us!”

“Yes, Steve, he would if it was what was needed.  We’ve already been going for nearly thirty hours, once we get a lead who knows when we’ll get a chance to rest again.”

Scrubbing his hands over his face he knew that Chin was right, but he just hated to feel like he was giving up.

“You’re not giving up on him Steve,” Chin could read the man’s face almost as well as Danny; “He wouldn’t begrudge anyone a couple of hours rest.”

“Fine.  A couple of hours,” the SEAL heard the sense in the words, even if it was hard for him to accept.  He stretched out as well as he could on the couch in his office and closed his eyes.  Thanks to his time as a SEAL he could drop off to sleep quickly and he was soon dozing fitfully.

Chin returned to his own office hoping that after a couple of hour’s rest they would be able to find new leads that would help them locate their missing friend.  The longer he was missing the more people around them looked at them with sympathy, as if the detective had already been found dead.  The 5-0 ohana knew that their Jersey haole was too stubborn to just give up and if there was a way to survive whatever was happening to him he’d find it.  He was as resourceful as Steve; kick ass as Kono and as mentally strong as Chin in his own New Jersey way.  With that thought Chin lay down and fell asleep.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Elsewhere on the island in a rainforest the last member of 5-0 was also taking a break.  Danny had found a rock that he could sit on which meant he didn’t have to struggle to get back up.  Although the tree canopy sheltered him from a lot of the sun, it was still hot and he’d been walking, well hobbling, for a few hours now without a break.  Opening the back pack he took a couple of mouthfuls of his precious water and a bite of one of the energy bars. 

He didn’t give himself long to rest.  There was little time for him to find his way out of this forest, get to his team and give them the information he possessed about the plan to steal the Crown Jewels.

Once more Danny pushed to his feet and started to hobble his way down the hill.  To him it seemed never ending but he was determined to prove to everybody that you shouldn’t underestimate him just because he’s a city boy.  It was then, as if someone somewhere wanted to test his resolve that the heavens opened and a torrential downpour struck.  Although not as bad as if he’d been out in the open the rain still managed to make it through the trees and he was soaked in seconds.  There was nowhere for him to shelter so he just pushed on, being careful as the ground became wet and slippery.  Bad guys, rain, sprained ankle, bruised knee, cracked ribs; none of it was going to stop him from achieving his goal!  The rain continued for about twenty minutes before the sun broke through the tree canopy once more.

Danny shivered slightly as the chill of the rain seeped into his skin but he found a spot in the sunlight and he was soon warmer again.  There was one advantage of the rain, it had gathered in some of the leaves of the lower vegetation and Danny took full advantage of it and drank some so that he didn’t need to dip into his precious bottled water for a while.  Sure the water wasn’t clear but he knew from Chin that even if he found a stream or body of water that drinking from it could be dangerous, something about bacteria in the water.

The day dragged on and Danny was getting tired, his hand hurt from holding onto his ‘walking stick’, blisters forming in the palm of his hand where it was rubbing.  His ankle and knee were both extremely swollen when he checked them last but there was nothing he could do right now.  The non-native Hawaiian pushed on until the sun dropped below the trees and he could barely see, then he found a place to rest, once again in between tree roots. 

A little water and the rest of his first energy bar before settling down to sleep.  He pulled the blanket out of the bag and checked his knee and ankle both of which throbbed reminding him that he needed to do something to help the swelling go down.  Making sure that he wouldn’t damage anything in the bag, he rolled it up and managed to place it under his ankle, ideally he’d have liked something else to place under his knee but at least this way both were elevated.  Pulling the blanket up around his shoulders as he felt the chill of the night settle over the rainforest, he closed his eyes and despite the none too comfortable ‘bed’, he fell into an exhausted sleep.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Steve, Chin and Kono had slept for a couple of hours before once again reviewing the evidence they had.  There was little to go on and there was nothing that they had missed.  The three were struggling to accept that they had no clues as to where Danny was and just stood around the computer table staring at it as if something would jump out at them.  Steve’s cell ringing broke them out of it.

“McGarrett.”

“Steve, its Charlie, I’ve got something!”

“What?” Steve asked flipping his phone to speaker so that the others could hear.

“A fingerprint on one of the casings!  I’m sending you the information now.”

Kono quickly pulled the information up on the computer table and put it up on the middle plasma.

“Jerry Donaldson, twenty six, history of breaking and entering.  We have an address for him,” Chin read out.

“Let’s go.  Great job Charlie!” Steve told the tech before hanging up and rushing out the door.

Fifteen minutes later the three team mates pulled up outside a house that had definitely seen better days.  There was no car in the drive but they could see movement in the house.  Strapping on their vests, just in case of trouble, Steve then instructed Chin to go round the back while he and Kono knocked on the door.

A couple of minutes later their knock was answered by an elderly lady.  White haired, bent over practically double with a cane in her left hand, “What?” she barked in a voice that was tinged with wariness.

“Commander McGarrett, Officer Kalakaua with 5-0.  We’re looking for Jerry Donaldson.”

“What has that good for nothing grandson of mine done this time?”

“His fingerprints were found at a crime scene,” Steve supplied.

“Just like his damn father.  Can’t stay outta trouble!  Come in,” she pushed the screen door open, “Tell that young man out back he can come through, you can check the other rooms on the way back,” catching a questioning look from Kono the elderly lady turned to her, “I may be old dear, but I ain’t stupid!  Years of police knocking on my door for either my son or grandson, there’s always at least one of you out the back.”

Steve couldn’t help but smile.  This lady clearly had all her marbles; hopefully she’d be able to help them locate her grandson, “Ma’am…”

“Don’t you ma’am me, young ‘un.  You can call me Mrs Donaldson if you must, but I’d prefer Ivy.  Ma’am makes me feel old!”

Chin followed Kono back into the room and smiled at that last comment.  They had taken Ivy up on her offer to search the other rooms.  There was a room that was clearly used by her grandson, but he wasn’t in it and it didn’t look like he’d been there in a while.

“Alright, Ivy, do you know where your grandson is?”

“Not a clue.  He got out of prison for the second time about, oh, three months ago.  His parole officer helped him get a job, nothing fancy, just working in one of them auto repair places.  Couldn’t even manage to hold that down, lost the job after two weeks.  Comes and goes using my home like it’s a damn hotel!”

“Ivy, when did you last see him?” asked Chin, knowing that if he let her she could probably go on for a long time about her grandson and all his failings.

“About ten days ago.  He came home, middle of the afternoon.  Gave me $100 dollars, kissed my cheek, impudent young whippersnapper, told me not to worry and he’d send me more money when he could.  Didn’t give me a chance to ask him no questions,” Ivy shook her head,  “I went in his room after he was gone and noticed that he’d taken  most of his clothes.”

“Can you tell us where he worked when he first got out of prison?”

“Huh, can’t remember the name of the place.  Got no use for auto repair shops myself since I can’t drive no more,” Ivy looked around and spotted something on the side, her body may be failing her but her mind and eyesight were as sharp as ever, “Look, over on that side table by the phone.  Should be a card there, Jerry put it there in case I needed anything while he was at work.  Ha!  Like he’d be the first person I’d call if I needed something.  Irresponsible, ungrateful, no good…”

“Got it,” interrupted Kono before the elderly woman could get properly going.

“Do you know any of his friends at all?” Chin asked.

“Nope.  Don’t wanna know ‘em either.  Caught glimpses of ‘em when they’d come by the house to pick him up to go out.  Didn’t look like there was a good one among ‘em!”

“Thank you for your time Ivy.  If you hear from Jerry please don’t tell him we’re looking for him and call us.  A man’s life may depend on it,” Steve instructed.

“Hang on a minute there, my grandson is no killer.  He’s stupid and easily led, but he wouldn’t kill anyone!”

“Not saying he would Ivy.  Look I can’t tell you exactly what’s going on, this is part of an on-going investigation, but a man I consider a brother is missing and Jerry may have information about it.”

Ivy stared at Steve as if considering not only what he was saying but the truth in the words.  Seeming to like what she saw she nodded, “I’ll call.  Hope you find him,” she went to get out of her chair.

“Thank you for your help Ivy, stay there we can see ourselves out,” stated Chin with a grateful smile.

Once out the door the three friends hurried to Steve’s truck so that they could go to the repair shop that Jerry had worked in.  They arrived at the shop just as it was about to close.

“Commander McGarrett, 5-0, looking for the owner,” Steve introduced himself to a man just locking up.

“That’s me.  Pete Jones.  What can I do for you?” the man turned to face the members of 5-0 a look of curiosity on his face.

“We’re looking for information on Jerry Donaldson.  His grandmother told us he worked for you for a short time.”

“Short time is right.  Lasted two weeks before I fired him,” he shook his head in disgust, “I gave him the job as a favour to a friend, won’t make that mistake again.”

“What did you fire him for?”

“Take your pick.  Poor time keeping, laziness, bad attitude.  He’d turn up late and then his friends would drop by throughout the day and he’d just stop what he was doing to talk to them!”

“Did you know any of them?  Overhear any names?  Would you recognise any of them if you saw them again?”

“Didn’t recognise any of ‘em.  He called one of them Mal.  I would know ‘em again if I saw ‘em, yeah.”

“Would you be prepared to come to HPD and work with a sketch artist?”

“I can do better than that.  I’ve got security cameras,” he smiled at the look of surprise, “I know it’s probably unusual for an auto shop to have cameras, but I stock a lot of speciality and expensive parts.  There’s a camera that looks out onto the front which was mostly where his friends would stop and I keep a backup of all footage for six months,” as he spoke he unlocked the door and stepped inside.  When he came back out he handed Steve a disc.

“Thanks for your help.”

“No problem, if there’s anything else you need, let me know,” Pete stated as he shook the proffered hands before climbing into his own car and driving off.

“Let’s get this back to the Palace,” Steve climbed in behind the wheel of his own vehicle and drove them, at speed, back to their office.  At last something to work with.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Danny woke with a start, momentarily forgetting where he was.  It hit him with the force of a sledgehammer and he groaned.  He was in a rainforest trying to find his way out.  It was clearly still early as there was only a little light making it through the tree canopy.  How in the hell did he find himself in these situations anyway?  He gingerly rolled up the leg of his pants to see his still swollen knee and ankle.  It was better than it had been the previous night, but he knew walking on it today wouldn’t do it much good.

He inspected his right hand and the red raw skin, blisters broken open and knew that using his ‘walking stick’ was going to hurt too.  Deciding that padding his hand was more important than protecting his arms from the chill at night he ripped one of his sleeves off his shirt and wrapped it around his hand.  A couple of mouthfuls of water and a bite of the second, and last, energy bar and he was on his feet.

He’d been in the rainforest two nights, which meant today was Tuesday.  Tonight was the night that his kidnappers were going to pull their heist.  There was no question, he was getting out of this forest today, finding Steve and letting him know what was going to happen and then sleeping for at least a week in a comfortable bed!  His own damn bed, not Super SEAL’s guestroom bed!

A new determination filtered through the detective and he hobbled with a little more speed, continuing down the hill as he had been before.  As the morning wore on though his pace became slower.  His muscles were cramping and he was feeling distinctly nauseous, he stopped, resting against a tree fearing that if he sat down he might not make it back to his feet.  He took a drink from his nearly depleted bottle of water and pushed his left hand through his sweat soaked hair.  He didn’t think it was any hotter today, but he certainly felt like he was sweating more. 

Deciding he had taken enough of a break he pushed on.  Tired and aching he couldn’t wait to find help and get back to civilisation.  He knew people paid good money to come to the islands and hike through these rainforests, but he’d be happy if he never entered one again.  He was sure given the right circumstances he’d be in awe of the tall canopy and the birds with multi-coloured feathers that were flying above his head, but that ship had sailed a long time ago as far as Danny was concerned.  If Grace ever wanted to go into the rainforest for a hike then Step-Stan could take her, or better yet, Steve, Chin and Kono.  It would be a cold day in hell before he would willingly step foot in another rainforest.

Distracted by his thoughts he didn’t notice the large raised tree root in front of him and he tripped over it, landing with a resounding thud and a whoosh of air as his ribs made contact with the ground.  Danny swore enough to turn the air around him blue.  The pain in his ankle and knee was loud and clear from the tumble he’d taken.  Lying on the ground he gave himself a minute to get the desire to vomit under control and then managed to sit up.  He could now add something else to his list of woes, a sharp pain in his chest, trying to take a deep breath only made it worse.  The detective had a sinking feeling that he might have actually broken a rib or two when he hit the ground, probably one of the cracked ones that were still healing.

Now more than ever he needed to get out of this forest and find help.  His right leg was now worse and breathing hurt.  He was exhausted and probably suffering from dehydration.  Gathering as much determination as he could muster, he somehow made it back to his feet and continued his trek down the hillside, though this time the pace was much slower and he was more careful.  A cough started to develop which meant he paused every time it happened, so he could catch his breath.  It was on one such occasion that he noticed that the terrain around him had changed.  He was still surrounded by trees, but finally it looked like he had stumbled across some kind of trail.  There was still a choice of uphill or downhill, but Danny decided he was in no condition for an uphill climb and set off downhill.

He hadn’t been on the trail for more than fifteen minutes when a wave of nausea hit him and the resultant spasms dropped him to the ground as he emptied what little there had been in his stomach.  Shuffling away from the area he found a tree to lean against and wrapped his arms around his torso, trying desperately to help his ribs as he tried to take deep breaths.  Finally he was too weak to carry on, the overwhelming dizziness when he lifted his head and looked around, combined with a headache was just too much.  Closing his eyes he drifted into unconsciousness.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

“This is awesome,” said a young woman, in her mid-twenties, to her group of friends.

“It’s the more difficult of the two major hiking trails in the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve,” stated their guide, “but the view when we get to the top will be well worth it.  The reserve itself is 600 square miles, this trail is just over two point five miles.  When we reach the end of the trail the view will be over the Upper Manoa Valley…” the guide was interrupted by another member of the group.

“Hey, is that someone sitting on the trail?” this from a man in his late twenties.  He quickly jogged to where he was pointing, the guide joining him, “He doesn’t look good.”

The guide placed his fingers on the man’s carotid pulse and was relieved to feel the beat under his fingers, even if it wasn’t particularly strong, “Sir, can you hear me?” he gently tapped the man’s face.

Danny regained consciousness surrounded by strange people and promptly started to try and get away.  An older man, probably in his forties turned to the group with him and waved his hand to signal them back.

“Sir, my name’s Hal, I’m a guide.  I’m not going to hurt you.  Can you tell me your name?”

The voice stopped Danny in his tracks.  A guide?  What?  He looked around him, noticed the trees and he realised where he was, even if he couldn’t quite remember how he got there.

“Danny,” his voice was raspy.

“OK, Danny, I want you to stay nice and still for me, I’m just going to check you for injuries,” Hal used his best soothing voice.  The guides were all trained in first aid, but normally the worst he had to deal with was a blister or a sprain. 

“Ribs hurt and my… my right leg,” Danny supplied.

Nodding Hal rolled up the right leg of Danny’s pants and saw the swelling, “We need to get you off the trail and to a hospital,” he turned to another woman standing nearby, “Shelley, can you give him a little water, only a couple of small sips and put this over him,” he handed her a blanket.  Turning away he pulled out his radio to request a medevac.

A bottle was pressed against his lips and Danny obediently opened his mouth and drunk some water when prompted, although it was taken away before he could quench his thirst.  Then a foil blanket was wrapped around him and for the first time in two days he felt like he could relax a little.  At that thought he lost consciousness again.

The next time he woke up it was to someone shining a light in his eyes and he tried to pull away but hands stopped him from moving, “You’re OK Danny.  I’m a medic.  My name is Mags, I’m going to get you hooked up to some fluids and oxygen then get you to a hospital.  Can you tell me what hurts?” she wanted to use the question to assess his awareness, having already been told about his leg.

“My right leg,” he tried to take a deep breath as he felt the oxygen mask being placed over his face but winced at the pain it caused, “Chest and ribs.”

“We’re going to put you on this board, place you in a litter and then you’re going to be winched into a chopper.  Alright?”

“OK.”  Danny felt there was something important he needed to tell her, but it was at the edge of his awareness, just out of reach.

Mags, with the help of some of the hiking group, moved Danny onto the board and into the litter, eliciting a cry of pain from her patient.

“Danny?” she knelt down by him.

“Can’t… breathe…”

Mags pressed her fingers to his pulse and found that it had become rapid and there was a hint of blue around Danny’s lips.  Using her stethoscope she lifted the tattered remains of his shirt and pressed it against his ribs so she could listen to his lungs.  Diminished sounds on the right side told her all she needed to know, he had a tension pneumothorax.  Opening her bag she pulled out a needle and inserted it into his chest cavity and then listened to his lungs again, relieved to hear some improvement.  Taping the needle to her patient’s chest, she strapped herself to the litter and radioed the chopper to come and airlift them off the trail.

Once the litter was secured in the chopper they flew off towards Queens and would land in a matter of minutes.  Mags rested a reassuring hand on her patient’s shoulder.  Unfortunately, Danny wasn’t being very co-operative.  He’d remembered that he needed to speak to Steve and was trying to tell her but between the noise of the chopper and the mask it was difficult for him to make his voice heard, so he tried to remove the mask.  Mags was having none of it and batted his hands away.  He was tired, in pain and quite frankly just wanted to let the darkness take him but couldn’t allow that to happen until he’d spoken to his partner.

The medic was relieved when they landed at Queens and she could hand over his care to the doctor’s.  Despite the morphine she’d given him and the injuries he had sustained he was still conscious and fighting.  She gave the attending doctor the information she had and then left her patient in the hospitals capable hands.

“Take him through to trauma one,” the doctor in the ER instructed as the patient was brought down from the helipad on the roof.  Given the information they’d received on the radio, it was agreed that two doctors would be required to treat this patient.

It wasn’t until the patient was hooked up to all the necessary monitors that the doctor looked at his patient, “Danny?!”

“Henry,” the reply was muffled by the mask but could just be heard, “Need Steve.”

“I’m sure he’s here somewhere, you can see him when we’ve got you stabilised,” he told him as he watched the oxygen sats on the monitor, “Need to prep for a chest tube please.”

“No!” Danny tried to shout, but it wasn’t possible, however the urgent tone in his voice did manage to get Henry’s attention.

“What is it Danny?”

“Need to speak to Steve.”

“Can someone check if Commander McGarrett is in the waiting area please?”

“Doesn’t know.”

“Doesn’t know what Danny?”  
“That I’m here.”

“He wasn’t with you?”

“No.”

“Chin, Kono?”

“No.”

“I’ll make sure someone calls him now, but you need to let me treat your collapsed lung.  The needle the medic placed is only alleviating the problem temporarily; I need to put in a chest tube to fully re-inflate it.”

“Speak to Steve… first.”

“No, I need to do this now Danny.”

“No drugs.”

“A local anaesthetic, that’s all,” promised Henry.

“’K.’

“Commander McGarrett is on his way Doctor Jensen,” Nurse Eve advised as she entered the room.  She squeezed Danny’s hand, “He told me to tell you not to go anywhere.”

Danny rolled his eyes in response and then closed them briefly as he felt the sting of a needle on his right side, when the doctor administered the local anaesthetic that would allow him to make the small incision necessary to place the chest tube.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Steve, Chin and Kono were in their own offices going through the camera footage that Pete had provided having located the two week window where Jerry worked for him and then divided it up, allowing them to hopefully get through it quicker.    They all worked through the night and when they were each done they gathered around the computer table once again to look at the stills they had pulled from the footage.  They didn’t recognise anyone so Kono started putting them through facial recognition software in the hope they would get a hit.

Chin once again insisted on a couple of hours rest, if the software got a hit an alert would sound that would wake them, otherwise they were just waiting again.

It wasn’t the computer that woke Steve but his cell, “McGarrett… What?... When?... Yes, I’ll be right there.  Tell him not to go anywhere!”  Jumping up from his couch he grabbed his keys and ran out into the main office calling for Chin and Kono, “Danny’s been found, he’s at Queens!”

A matter of seconds after hearing the news the three team mates were on their way out the door to Steve’s truck.  Chin and Kono barely got their doors closed before Steve peeled out of the Palace parking lot and accelerated down the street towards Queens.  When they reached the hospital Steve threw the truck into a space, not caring if it was legal or not and ran into the ER.

“Steve McGarrett, my partner, Danny Williams, has been brought here.”

“Just a moment Mr McGarrett,” responded the receptionist politely, clearly new and unaware of whom she was talking to.

“That’s Commander McGarrett and I don’t have a moment.  My partner was asking for me and I want to see him _now_!”  The last word was emphasised with the flat of his hand hitting the desk in front of her.

“If you don’t calm down _Commander_ McGarrett, I will have security remove you!”

“That won’t be necessary, just let Doctor Jensen know that Detective Williams’ family is here, please,” said Chin, stepping in before Steve really lost his temper.

Eyeing the three people before her, she decided that complying with the older man’s request would be wise and asked one of the nurses nearby to locate Doctor Jensen and pass on the message.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

“There you go Danny.  That should help with the pain in your chest and your breathing,” Henry told him.

Danny merely nodded as he watched more blood being taken for a multitude of tests that the doctor had requested.

“Doctor Jensen,” a nurse poked her head round the door, “Detective Williams’ family is here and they’re making quite a scene in reception,” she told him before disappearing.

“Steve,” stated Danny quietly.

“No doubt,” Henry agreed, patting his patient on the arm, “I’ll go and get him, but then you’re going to submit to x-rays, all the tests and treatment I want to subject you to, deal?”

“Deal,” Danny agreed, he was too tired to argue but he didn’t have to let Henry know that.  He watched the doctor leave the room before allowing his eyes to close while he waited.

“Henry!” Steve called as he saw him approach.

“Steve, Chin, Kono,” he reached out and shook the proffered hands of the team; “He’s this way.”  As they passed the desk Steve shot the receptionist a deadly glare, followed by a smug smile as he followed Doctor Jensen into the ER, “I’ve just inserted a chest tube because Danny’s right lung had collapsed.  He’s clearly suffering from exhaustion and dehydration, as for any other injuries there’s a problem with his right leg but I need to do x-rays and Danny refused any further treatment until he’d spoken to you.”

“Problem with his right leg?  It’s not his knee again is it?” asked Kono.

“Both his ankle and knee are badly swollen.  I won’t know more until I can get x-rays and maybe a scan.  I can only allow one of you in,” he said as he stopped outside the door to the trauma room.

“Henry, Danny has been missing for two days, we have no idea where he’s been or what happened to cause his injuries…” Steve trailed off.

“Alright, you can all go in, but keep it brief and don’t let him get overexcited or he could pull out the chest tube.”

“Thanks Henry,” Steve smiled in relief as the three friends stepped into the trauma room.  Danny was resting on his back, sheet pulled up to his waist, a tube coming from his right side.  All the skin they could see, apart from that surrounding the chest tube, was filthy.  It looked like he was sleeping and they didn’t want to disturb him, so started to back out when they were pinned by two pale blue eyes which changed their direction back towards the bed.

“Hey,” Steve placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder, while Chin and Kono lined up beside him, trying to stay out of the way of all the monitors and medical personnel.

“Steve?”

“Yeah buddy, I’m here.  It’s OK; you can get some rest now.  Let the nurses take care of you.”

“Need to tell you what happened.”

“You can tell me later, you need to rest.”

“Important!” Danny threw his left hand up in the air to try and emphasise his point.

“You need to stay calm brah,” Kono grabbed his hand and laid it back on the bed, “Or Henry will kick us out.”

“Keep it brief and tell us only what we need to know right this minute then,” suggested Chin.

“Distraction.  Planning to steal Crown Jewels.”

Steve, Chin and Kono all exchanged looks of confusion.  Was Danny delirious from exhaustion and dehydration?

Danny took as deep a breath as he could manage.  He needed to be clearer but get across to the rest of the team what had happened as briefly as possible, “Take me, distract you,” he indicated the three people standing by the bed, “Didn’t want you interviewing the diamond heist crew, as worried they would give you intel on the second crew.”

“Wait, the guys that were busted after the shooting in the park?”

“Yes.”

“There were more people?”

“A second crew.”

“Who have planned another robbery?”

“Yes.  Crown Jewels.”

“I thought the Crown Jewels were kept at the Bishop Museum under lock and key?” Steve turned to Chin and Kono.

“Normally they are, but there’s been an exhibition of pieces from the museum, as well as private collectors being shown at Queen Emma’s Summer Palace,” Kono supplied, pulling out her phone and going on the internet, “The exhibition consists of King Kalakau’s 11.75 carat diamond; the miniatures of the Royal Order, which is made of 18 carat gold and has ten diamonds; an 18 carat gold gemstone ring.  There are other pieces, but I think that gives you an idea of the value of the exhibit!”

“Danno, did they say when?”

“Tonight.”

“Well security will be tight around the Summer Palace;” Chin was thinking out loud, “Maybe one of those men we saw with Jerry Donaldson has a job that would allow them access.”

“Alright, get back to the office and see if anything has come up on facial recognition,” Steve ordered Chin and Kono, “Can you identify any of the men that took you Danny?”

“No, wore masks.”

“Times up,” Henry strode back into the room, “Danny I need to get these x-rays done.”

“We’ll be back to see you later Danny,” assured Chin.

“No giving Henry a hard time brah,” Kono told him, placing a kiss on his forehead.

That just left Steve, who looked torn.  Danny knew that he wanted to stay but that he wanted to go with the others as well.

“Go!  Arrest the bad guys.  I’m not going anywhere.”

“Are you sure Danno?”

“Yes Rambo! Go do your thing,” Danny gave him a weak smile.

“Henry, call if there’s any change or he needs anything?”

“Absolutely,” Henry agreed.

“I’ll be back later to check on you.”

“Go Super SEAL,” Danny batted at his arm, though there was no strength in the movement.

A final squeeze to Danny’s shoulder and Steve went with Chin and Kono to hopefully prevent the theft of the Crown Jewels and catch the people that had taken Danny.

“Alright Danny, let’s get these x-rays done.”

At last Danny felt he was able to rest and let his eyes close.  The darkness that had been calling to him ever since he had been found on the trail was finally allowed to take over completely.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Steve, Chin and Kono sat anxiously by Danny’s bed.  He’d now been asleep for nearly twenty four hours.  Doctor Jensen assured them that under the circumstances it was quite normal and the best thing for him.  Rachel and Grace had been in twice to see him and been disappointed to find that he was still sleeping, they would be back again later.

Apart from the collapsed lung, caused by a broken rib puncturing it, Danny had also sustained a badly bruised knee and sprained ankle.  The nursing staff were regularly icing these and had also ensured that the limb remained elevated.  When Danny woke up they would arrange for a physiotherapist to come and see him but it would be about four weeks before he could walk without the assistance of crutches or a cane.  That brought them on to the last of his injuries; his right hand was blistered and cut, the skin raw.  It had been thoroughly cleaned, unfortunately it had become infected, so he was also being given antibiotics to combat that.  The injury to his right hand would mean he would be unable to use crutches initially, as he wouldn’t be able to put any weight on it. 

Henry had told them that the chest tube would remain in place for another two days and as long as there were no further issues, he would be released in three.  The hand may have healed enough by then to use but only time would tell.

A groan from the bed brought all three to their feet and they held their breath as they waited to see if Danny was actually going to wake up this time.  Their wait was rewarded when two blue eyes opened and looked around the room clearly trying to work out where he was. 

“Hey Danno, it’s OK, you’re in hospital,” Steve rested a hand on Danny’s arm to stop him moving about too much.

“Figured that much,” Danny replied in a husky voice.

“Why’d you say that?” Kono asked offering him a drink of water via a straw.

“Thanks,” he took a few sips before it was taken away, “You’re all hovering round me with wide eyes and worried expressions!”

“Worried?  Us?  Nah.”

“Don’t listen to him brah.  Yes, we were worried.  You went missing for two days,” Chin told him as Kono thumped Steve on the arm.

“Did you catch the Crown Jewel thieves?” asked Danny, thinking again that it sounded like something out of a movie.

“Yeah, caught ‘em red handed!  They started singing like the proverbial canaries when we got them back to HPD!” Steve grinned.

Doctor Jensen arrived to check on his patient and chased them all out of the room.  When he was finished he was pleased with the progress and told them all that Danny was on track for being released in three days.

Danny gave Steve a steely eyed look, not quite the SEAL thousand yard stare, but a very good imitation.

“What?”

“I’m going back to my apartment Steven!  I slept in the damn rainforest for two nights and I want my _own_ bed, in my _own_ place!”

“OK.”

“That’s it?  Just OK?”

“Yep.”

“No, but Danno it’s not safe?”

“Nope.”

“Huh.  Who are you and what have you done with the real Steve McGarrett?” Danny asked suspiciously.

Steve rolled his eyes, “Look, you said yourself you survived on your own in the rainforest; I think you can survive in your own apartment!”

Danny was stumped; he’d been expecting a fight.  At the very least a token protestation, instead he got implicit agreement.  What the hell was going on?

Steve leaned forward in his chair, making sure he made eye contact with his brother, “You wanna know the reason those wannabe Crown Jewel thieves got caught, the one mistake they made?”

“What’s that?”

“They underestimated you.  They didn’t think you could find your own way out of that rainforest.”

“I proved them wrong!” scoffed Danny.

“Yes, you did and I don’t plan on making that same mistake.”

Danny’s eyes nearly popped out of his head and his jaw nearly hit the floor in shock.  Steve was, in a roundabout kind of way, admitting that not allowing him to return to his apartment would be underestimating him.

Steve sat back in his chair a smug grin on his face.  He loved it when he could render his partner speechless.  He’d better make the most of it because he had a feeling that would change when he discovered that although he was going back to his own apartment, Steve was going to be staying with him while he recovered!

 


End file.
